Scientific publications

Information is provided on the distribution and abundance of 37 vascular plant species in Lapponia Ponojensis that are legally protected or rare in the Murmansk Region. The herbarium label information, location of specimens and brief comments on the abundance of populations found are reported for each species. The data were obtained in 2015–2016 during surveys along the south-eastern and eastern coasts of the Kola Peninsula, from the Varzuga River mouth to the Rusinga River mouth, including Bolshaya Bab’ya Bay, the Ponoi River mouth, Ponoi village surroundings, the Rusinga River valley in its lower and middle reaches, as well as Tri Ostrova archipelago, islands Sosnovetz, Danilov, Goryainov and some others. The history of investigations in Lapponia Ponojensis by Finnish and Russian botanists in the 19th – 21st centuries is described. Previous published reports were verified using the Herbarium H. According to a critical revision of historical data, the distribution of Astragalus norvegicus and Comastoma tenellum in the Kola Peninsula was corrected. Ten species (Bolboschoenus maritimus, Salix arctica, S. gmelinii, S. nummularia, Cystopteris dickieana and others) were found in the study area for the first time, and for some of them these localities are at the limits of their ranges in Fennoscandia. The occurrence of 27 red-listed species previously known from this area has been confirmed. The most interesting among them is Astragalus norvegicus, for which no data have been reported in more than 100 years. Since the largest number of protected plants was noted in the Rusinga River valley, the authors support the earlier suggestion about establishing a nature monument in the area, as well as arranging protection for botanical objects at the Ponoi River mouth, but they believe that the proposed PA deserves the status of a botanical reserve.